There was no drama Friday for Nathaniel David Juratovac’s sentencing hearing, just acceptance for a violent action he felt was necessary.

Standing before Judge Michael Traynor at the St. Johns County Courthouse, Juratovac told the court he shot Jared Parkey on March 29, 2013, as an act of self-defense.

“I’m at peace with my decision,” he said. “My family is safe today.”

Juratovac, a former Flagler Beach police officer, ended up shooting Parkey twice following a road-rage incident on South U.S. 1. Parkey did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

There was little for Traynor to decide Friday because Juratovac’s attorney, Patrick Canan, and the State Attorney’s Office had reached a plea deal during a Dec. 6, 2013, hearing. The charge against Juratovac was reduced from attempted pre-meditated murder to attempted manslaughter. The defense agreed to a sentence of four years and three months in prison followed by nine months of community control and five years of parole.

According to police reports, Juratovac and Parkey got into a minor collision after both were driving recklessly.

Juratovac believed Parkey was following too closely and “brake checked” in front of him. That led to a series of exchanges between the drivers. Juratovac told investigators he tried several times to simply get away from Parkey but that the other kept making threatening actions toward him.

Parkey admitted to officers that he threw a water jug at Juratovac’s vehicle.

When the two drivers pulled over following the collision, Parkey approached Juratovac’s vehicle. Juratovac also got out of his vehicle and shot Parkey.

Both men’s wives were passengers in their respective vehicles, and they each had a young child inside as well.

Previously, Juratovac had expressed an interest in fighting the charge because he felt deadly force was justified. He said Parkey was clearly the aggressor and that the case was mishandled by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.

But the possibility of losing at trial and spending most or all of the rest of his life in prison was too much of a risk to take.

Assistant State Attorney Russell Bausch, who was assigned to the case out of the 18th Judicial District, said there is no question Juratovac intended to Parkey.

“The shots were in his neck and in the kidney area,” Bausch said. “The intent was there to put Mr. Parkey down on the ground and in the grave.”

Bausch argued that Juratovac had the opportunity to resolve the situation without shooting him.

Traynor had harsh words for both parties.

“The actions of two people that day created a danger not only to their families but to the other citizens of this county. There’s no excuse for that,” he said. “We wouldn’t be in this situation if two people hadn’t acted irresponsibly and recklessly.”

Just before being led out of the courtroom, Juratovac told his wife, Robin, that he loved her and to “take care of my babies.”

Before the attorneys left the courtroom, Robin Juratovac reminded Bausch of a “promise” to be kept. The Juratovacs have been upset since the beginning that Parkey has not been charged with any crime despite police reports of his “reckless” behavior.

It is still possible the State Attorney’s Office could file charges against Parkey for his role in the incident. He did not speak at Friday’s hearing.

Because Juratovac is a former law enforcement officer, he will be placed in protective custody somewhere in the state prison system. It was not known Friday where he will spend his sentence.

He did receive credit for the 84 days served before being granted bail. During that time, he was kept in solitary confinement at a Clay County facility.